What a spectacular Appleseed we had in Wilmington, Ohio this past weekend, October 19 & 20, 2019!
There are things in life that just go together...Smith and Wesson, peanut butter and chocolate, Bert and Ernie. You know it's true. After this past event there's no doubt that OCTOBER and APPLESEED is the greatest combo of them all. Sure we love those days around the 19th of April- for very good reason- but October was made for shooting and Clinton County Farmers and Sportsman Association was the place to be!
Gathered together with our elite instructor corp were 20 liberty minded individuals with marksmanship on their minds. Man did they show up with teachable attitudes and laser-like focus. I don't believe I've ever experienced a better bunch of shooters!
Saturday drills were a breeze. We downed some Redcoats, mutilated some squares, listened to our targets talk and relaxed behind our rifles until Angie and Jon's hot-lunch-that-couldn't-be-beat set us up for a stirring and heart-felt First Strike that reminded us all how we got to this wonderful place in time. Then it was back to the grind for some IMC and steady-hold factors until after a rousing Second Strike the AQTs came out.
We polished off a practice run before Sadie led the charge with our first Rifleman score of the weekend- a 219! Ben re-qualified as well at 215. Our mind's eyes then drifted off to April of 1775 when we heard the final Strike that harkened back to the beginning of our fantastic country inspiring us to crunch some more Redcoats and head for the comforts of home.
Sunday dawned ominously misty but not for long! The sun came out and so did the marksmen. After a quick review and some drills to set it all in place we began the grind. Sadie nailed it again and so did Ben but it didn't stop there! Nathan stirred the baptismal waters of the North Bridge with a 210 and it was off to the races!
Doug's persistence paid off with a 220 and Ben upped the ante with a weekend high of 222. Doug nailed it twice more (somebody got it figured out!) and Michael joined the fray at 217. Finally Nicholas laid down a 215 to make it 5 new Riflemen on the weekend!
There were so many others right on the edge. David and Brett were knocking on the door with low 200s. Mike, Russ, Joe, Samuel and Griffin looked like little green army men with their textbook positions. Kevin and Alisha kept hammering away with their young-uns, Wesley and Ian, while Tom and Brooke persisted in the art of learning the greatest of American skills. And who could deny Greg's fine example of determination and will with his never-give-up attitude.
Those poor Redcoats didn't stand a chance when we closed her out that afternoon. We made a pile of dirty rifles, spent brass and sore shooters that will go down as one of the best Appleseeds in the long and storied history of CCFSA- and there's been a lot of 'em to compare it to.
When the smoke cleared the tally was golden! Ben and Doug cleaned redcoats. Five fine Americans joined the ranks of the elite including a father and his two sons, Doug, Nathan, and Nicholas (along with 2 re-quals) and we all learned that saving this great land of our is worth the effort and we can make a difference!
To top it off Ben has made the commitment to join the Instructor Corp by accepting an Orange Hat. HUAZZAH!!! HUZZAH!! HUZZAH!!!
Until next time shooters- stay safe and git behind a rifle!
Just an amazing shoot all around. Sold out, perfect weather, great shooters, dedicated instructors, wonderful food, a super-supportive club, and a shoot boss who is such an effective mentor. It's so gratifying to be telling the history to 25 upturned faces hanging on your every word smiling and nodding while you could hear a pin drop in the room. Loved every minute of it.
A few pics to get us started!
Additional pics from a FANTASTIC weekend of marksmanship and history!
Congratulations to all our new Rifleman and our latest instructor volunteer!
All,
Can I get three big Huzzah's. Sounds like an amazing event and one I wish I could have been at. Well done to the shooters, the instructors, and especially to our Shoot Boss. Great job all.
Corvette
Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah.
I hope to visit you at a future shoot. Wilmington is located just an hour north of our Commonwealth. Excellent results- highly effective coaching and motivation, obviously.
We had several interesting seeds at CCFSA this year.
We started off with a Shiver Seed.
Had an Aqua Seed.
A one of a kind Liberty Bee Seed
And to end the year, a QuintaRiflemanSeed! (Or is that PentaRifleManSeed?)
As I read LongRifleMan's comments, I was thinking ditto, ditto, ditto.
Thanks for allowing me to be part of such and amazing event and organization.
I am at your service.